[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

In France, young women are starting to buy pet pigs to avoid being harassed by Muslim men

Elderly Veteran kills 3 Home Invaders

Number One Longevity Food

Inflation Highest In Democrat States, Lowest In Republican Deep South

TikToker admits to being paid $150 a day to protest Trump’s deportation policies in LA

A GREAT update on the Trump fraud case ($454.2 million judgment) at the appellate court.

Mexican Senate President Revives Territorial Claims Amid Los Angeles Civil Unrest

Rooftop Korean' issues chilling threat about LA's future 30 years after Rodney King riots

Bystanders jump in front of ICE vehicles with arrested migrants inside

Israeli companies struggling to find customers amid Gaza genocide:

Farmers are being pressured to sell their land to this. Not good!

Palantir EXPOSED: The New Deep State

Military Overview: Ukrainian Fronts Crumble Under Multi-Axis Assault

ICE prepares full assault on five Democrat cities as LA goes into lockdown amid immigration riots

Invisible Missile Triggers MILITARY PANIC! (This is the Russian Zircon)

Mass arrests as defiant immigration protesters ignore lockdown orders in LA

Visit California: It's America's Future

FBI Director Kash Patel sues MSNBC columnist Frank Figliuzzi

The Ukraine war did not "bleed out" Russia. It bled US taxpayers

America Is Full. Time To Close The Door.

Golden Dome Idiocy

Israeli Media: Trump Told Netanyahu To Permanently End War in Gaza

21 days left till BASEL III is implemented. VIDEO EXPLANATION

China’s bottom half holds twice the wealth of America’s.

China’s extreme weather is leaving devastation across multiple provinces

Salton Sea is emitting foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas

Will Treasury Secretary Bessent's Past (Soros) Come Back To Haunt Him Today?

BBC Under Fire for CENSORING Gaza Medic Documentary

US is Agreement Incapable

Blow to Israeli Intelligence. taping Israelis in bathrooms


All is Vanity
See other All is Vanity Articles

Title: Conspiracy Theories are a form of Helplessness
Source: Memri
URL Source: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP9100
Published: Aug 13, 2007
Author: Staff
Post Date: 2007-08-13 19:51:09 by YertleTurtle
Keywords: None
Views: 933
Comments: 37

Making a public statement seldom heard in the Arab world, two Egyptian intellectuals in both government and opposition papers strongly criticize the common misperception among the Egyptian cultural and political elite that events are driven by conspiracies. In no uncertain terms, they describe the tendency to blame Israel for Arab failuresas an "evasion of reality," and the creation and endorsement of conspiracy theories[1] to explain every event as "leading to helplessness, passivity, surrender and suicide."

Conspiracy Theories are a form of Helplessness

In a November 18, 1999 article in the Egyptian weekly, Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, which is affiliated with the government, the Head of the Al-Ahram Research Centre, Dr. Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id writes:

"Egypt Air flight 990 was explained by many conspiracy theories, all blaming the crash on the US and Israel…"

"We thought that by the end of the 20th century, the Arab mind would be open enough not to explain everything with a 'conspiracy theory.' [It is true that] those who reject the conspiracy theory do not totally exclude the possibility that a conspiracy could occur. A secret conspiracy to achieve political goals is plausible in international relations. It does not mean, however, that every historical event is a plot or that history is one big 'conspiracy…'"

"For example, the Sykes - Picot agreement [1916] was indeed a conspiracy, because it was signed secretly by Britain and France, while violating the promises made to the Arabs… The 1956 trilateral attack on Egypt, by France, the UK and Israel, was also a conspiracy."

"On the other hand, the wars of 1948 and 1967 were not conspiracies… We all know that the closure of Tiran Straits [by Egypt in May 1967] meant war. The Egyptian leadership knew it and that is why Abd Al-Nasser gave the Egyptian military command an early warning [that war may erupt] after closing the straits."

"The term 'conspiracy' must not be overused, lest confusion prevail. …The Gulf War was not a conspiracy. The international and regional decisions were made on the basis of the need to liberate Kuwait. For seven months the Arab states implored Iraq to withdraw, and the Western states threatened it. The war came [only] after all other efforts failed. Where is the conspiracy here?"

"All those 'conspiracies' exhaust the Arab mind and prevent it from seeing the truth and exploring it seriously. All the conspiracy theories about Egypt Air flight 990 involving missiles and bombs just do not hold…"

"But the biggest problem with conspiracy theories is that they keep us not only from the truth but also from confronting our faults and problems. …This way of thinking relates any given problem to external elements, and thus does not [lead] to a rational policy to confront the problem. He who speaks of ghosts [as the reason behind any given problem] can do nothing to solve it."

"Anyone, who adopts the conspiracy theory becomes so helpless that he ends up surrendering or committing suicide. The thinking of conspiracy theorists shifts between surrender and suicide, between helplessness and passivity, between negligence and failure."

Stop Blaming Israel

In the nationalist secular opposition daily, Al-Wafd, February 26, 2000, columnist Hassan Hafez criticizes another aspect of the public Arab debate: blaming Israel for all Arab faults and failures. In an article entitled: "Let us Excel in our Writing and Stop Blaming all our Problems on Israel" he writes:

"We must excel in our writing… and stop blaming all our problems on Israel. I wonder why we blame Israel for every fault in [Arab] society. This is the logic of the weak, who seek a peg on which to hang all their mistakes in order to evade a true confrontation with reality."

"An Egyptian plane crashed last November [and they say]: 'This is an operation by the Israeli 'Mossad.'' [Egyptian Muslims clash with Christian Copts in] Al-Kushekh [in Southern Egypt] …and everyone blames the Israeli 'Mossad.'"

"Then, something even stranger happens: the price for a tank of gas rises up to 15 Egyptian Pounds, and one newspaper claims that the reason for it is the export of gas to Israel! …We blame Israel for failures in marketing or for the rise of prices. This is illogical and unacceptable… I wouldn't be surprised if they say that the 'Mossad' is responsible for the social security problems in Egypt too…"

"Slow down, you who get into fits when you talk about Israel! Let us first undertake our own soul-searching. We have to grab those responsible for our failures by the collar instead of blaming Israel for all our problems like cowards… [Blaming Israel] causes us to look ridiculous before the world and it makes the small Israeli state look great. We have to be honest with ourselves before we blame others! When we blame others we are being untrue, we mock common sense and we scorn our people…"

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 20.

#3. To: YertleTurtle (#0)

EASILY lost, on page 425, in the mass of the CIA's notorious "Family Jewels" files is a short paragraph outlining "potentially embarrassing Agency activities".

"Experiments in influencing human behaviour through the administration of mind- or personality-altering drugs to unwitting subjects."

Of all the heinous acts committed by the CIA in the name of national security, these experiments, done on the agency's behalf by prominent psychiatrists on innocent victims - including children as young as four - may be the darkest.

"We have no answer to the moral issue," former director Richard Helms infamously said when asked about the nature of the projects.

The release of the Family Jewels documents revealed the CIA handsomely funded these real-life Dr Strangeloves and engaged pharmaceutical companies to help its experiments.

The agency appealed to Big Pharma to pass on any drugs that could not be marketed because of "unfavourable side effects" to be tested on mice and monkeys.

Any drugs that passed muster would then be used, according to an internal memo, on volunteer US soldiers.

The Family Jewels files do not provide further detail into the numerous mind-control programs, such as MKULTRA, covertly propped up by the agency.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21978876-663,00.html

MKULTRA was supposedly a "kooky" conspiracy.

Now we know it was real, the CIA admits to it.

robin  posted on  2007-08-13   19:58:00 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#19. To: robin, christine, Zipporah, lodwick, Jethro Tull (#3)

Now HERE'S a conspiracy...
Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Word on the street is that this f***** in Connecticut is REALLY working for the McCain campaign, and crashed the internet ON PURPOSE to stall the building momentum in Ron Paul's campaign while his boss restructures his organization.

who knows what evil  posted on  2007-08-13   21:40:30 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#20. To: who knows what evil (#19)

And a conspiracy is different from a rumor, like this one:

There are conflicting rumors about Fred Thompson.

Constitution Club

Fred Thompson Gay Rumors, The Latest Disgrace From the Netroots

Filed under: 2008 Presidential campaigns, Liberals, blogging — DFV the Scribe @ 11:50 pm

Andrew Sullivan was charged with starting it, Wonkette giddily ran with it,

some leftist called Suburban Guerrilla agreed with it,

lefty commentors suddenly and unexpectedly confirmed it,

then Sullivan denied it,

which Wonkette blanched at, and ….

Well decide for yourself.

Here she is with Wolfowitz:

robin  posted on  2007-08-13   21:43:11 ET  (1 image) Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 20.

#21. To: robin (#20)

Damn, Fred looks cute! Think he'd ditch Paul to go out with me?

Dakmar  posted on  2007-08-13 21:46:29 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


End Trace Mode for Comment # 20.

TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]